LG L204WT review

A 20.1-inch TFT with a turbocharged contrast ratio

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Our Verdict

A reasonable display but it would be nice to have a non-high contrast mode

For

Superb contrast ratio

Decent resolution

Against

Contrast can only be changed manually

Sloppy cable management

When it comes to variety, LG produces a wide range of panels in different sizes and is one of the leading makers of screens destined for use on laptops from all of the major manufacturers. So it knows a thing or two about screens.

The LG L204WT is a conventional 20.1-inch TFT screen with a resolution of 1680 x 1050 pixels. However, the 2000:1 contrast ratio is the sort of number you expect from a home cinema projector.

High contrast is great if you're watching a movie and want to be able to see fine details, such as characters standing in the shadows, but it's not so hot when you're writing in black text on a white document as the background glares quite painfully.

Unfortunately, LG hasn't provided a quick way to switch between modes, so you are obliged to adjust brightness and contrast settings manually if you want to take advantage of the high contrast feature. This is made more complicated than it needs to be as the four adjustment buttons are located on the rear of the bezel where they are out of sight.

Although we liked the picture with the settings turned up high for multimedia duties, we ended up leaving the brightness at 60 per cent and the contrast at 70 per cent as a compromise for everyday use, making the 2000:1 figure largely irrelevant.

Added to that, the colour of a white background becomes noticeably red if you alter your vertical viewing by only a small amount, for instance as you stand up from your desk.

The LG also lacks cable management, so the power and DVI cords simply hang down from the lower bezel and the screen takes a surprisingly long time to wake from standby.

The L204WT is a decent display but it is rather let down by the details.